C5 Corvette Torque Tube

[Lynn]

I believe they used similar set ups on C6 and C7 Corvettes.

My son in law's 2002 Z06 (42k miles) had some strange noises coming from the torque tube. At first I thought it was the trans. But, after putting it in a lift and listening with a stethescope, decided it was coming from the torque tube. Told him to quit driving it until we could fix it. Ordered all the parts from Texas Drivetrain Performance. Very fair pricing and shipped fast. The replacement bearings they supply are German and higher quality than the ones GM used from the factory. The Giubos were both in decent shape, but made no sense to re-use them, given that the labor is 90% of this job. Besides, after breaking a couple of T50 torx bits, I had to heat the old Giubo bolts to soften up the loctite, which in turn charred the old Giubos.

Pulled the transaxle and tube. After removing the tube from the trans, found this. The front bearing was in pieces. Tow balls were resting in the rear bell housing. Several pieces of the bearing retainer were there as well. Good thing he quit driving it. Just imagine if it had locked up going down the road!!!!

Told him he was bat sh!t crazy to NOT go ahead and install a new clutch while we had it this far down. This is not the easiest disassembly. I was shocked at how much material there was left on the clutch disc itself. BUT, both the flywheel and the PP had "hot spots" on them, so glad we got those parts as well.

Drives like a new car. Quiet. Shifts like butter. Still have some maintenance to do this Sunday. I put new rear brake pads and rotors on it. Was planning to to the same with the front. But one of the calipers is dragging a bit, so I got rebuild kits for the front calipers, and will install those with new GM brake pads and rotors on Sunday. Also got a set of tires for the rear. Just like my turbocharged BMW, this thing seems to go through two sets of rear tires for every one set of front. All the rear tires must be defective. Right?